Dniester Estuary

The Dniester opens into the Black Sea through a broad lagoon, its waters separated from the sea by a narrow sandbar. On the western shore stands the fortress town known as Cetatea Albă and later Akkerman. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was an important commercial centre connecting inland routes to Black Sea shipping. Ottoman forces captured the fortified town in 1484, making it a frontier stronghold.